I Miss You (no i dont)
by junuve
Summary: Alphys never knew she'd be alone on the Surface. Running a repair shop, raising a teenager, and stopping the spread of a CORE-contagion were just a few of the things she had to do. One day, Mettaton washes up in town, and Alphys decides to have some fun and play a prank. But their hijinks lead them to secrets best left shrouded in darkness... ...and where is Undyne, anyway?
1. Chapter 1

A small bottle, translucent blue, was laying in the sand, waves lapping around it. Alphys approached, buttoning her coat against the winds coming off the ocean. She grabbed the neck of the bottle, wrenching it out of the sand.

She shook a few clumps of sand off, perfunctorily, uncorking it and tipping the vessel so the letter would fall out. Tucking the bottle under her arm she opened the letter, adjusting her glasses so that she could see the handwriting clearly.

As she read electricity began to build in her fingertips. Her pulse grew more rapid, and her seething magic couldn't be contained. She approached the end of the letter, and the sweet scent of burning overpowered the stench of the sea.

The letter browned and crumbled in her grasp, and she let the surf carry the fragments out to sea. Bit by bit, the massive ocean swallowed it whole.

She took the bottle in her hand, weighing it. Her snout curled into a snarl, the glass of the neck heating as her magic coursed through it.

Alphys hurled it as hard as she could into the waves.

And it came back. She watched it roll up in the froth. When she picked it up, her hand hurt from how hard she squeezed the bottle's neck. She threw it, hard.

And it came back. Again.

She snatched the bottle and flung it.

It came back, straight to her feet.

Alphys was turning red. The area around her began to dry out, and footprints scorched into the packed sand.

She launched the bottle with a herculean throw. And then she waited on it's return, tiny hands balled into fists. She didn't even realize that tendrils of electricity were leaping off of her body.

The Mew Mew Kissy Cutie theme began to play, an 8bit remix, specifically, from her coat-pocket. It jolted her back to, and she fished the phone out of her coat (which was thankfully shock-proof).

" _Nyah-nyah Kissy Cutie_ _ **SHUT-UP**_ ," Alphys mocked the tune as she held up the phone. She didn't even check the number.

"H-hello, this is Alphys' Repair Service," she tried to speak over the waves.

"Uh, yeah?" a low-pitched voice answered. "It's me?"

"Susie! I-I'm sorry," Alphys chuckled. "What is it?"

"Got a call from that Charles guy. I know you weren't supposed to be there for like…" Susie checked the time. "…another hour, but he just said there's like, gnarly black stuff coming out of the pump."

Alphys' thoughts scattered. "Black stuff?"

"Yeah, and there's been-" Susie broke off. "What is that noise? Are you on the beach AGAIN?"

Alphys covered the receiver on her end. "There. Better?"

"Yeah. Better," Susie relented. "Anyway, he uh… he said something about weird symbols. I'm guessing it's gonna be like last time. CORE shi-I mean, stuff."

Alphys let out a sigh, messaging her snout.

It was odd for Charles to ever need help. He was used to the operations of machinery, being a CORE technician, and often could fix things even Alphys couldn't. But whatever was going on was on the coding side, probably, and going haywire. She really wasn't looking forward to this. Most of the time the equipment he used couldn't be brought to the shop, so she'd end up having to figure it out on-site.

"You should go over there before they start… running in circles and screaming or something."

A cool object bumped into Alphys' foot. Without even looking down she realized it was that stupid bottle. A wave of wrath overcame her.

"….aaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Susie held the phone away as the screech crescendoed.

Lightning struck the bottle. Three times. The bottle burst into a hail of shards. Saltwater sizzled, and the waves already worked on revealing the fulgurite tubes.

Susie waited a minute, listening to Alphys pant from the sudden outburst. "You done?"

"I… Yes," Alphys gathered herself, and in a breathless voice informed, "I'll be at Charles' in a sec."

"Cool. Good luck." And Susie hung up.

Alphys trudged through the loose sand, her nose wrinkling as it tickled, stuck to her scales. On the sidewalk, thankfully, there was a little rinse-off station. She managed to get the majority off her legs and tail, but still, the sand had infiltrated every nook of her clothing, it seemed.

The beach wasn't going to be easily forgotten, she surmised grimly.

She hopped on her moped, taking off toward Charles' warehouse. She drove into town, and the roads were hers alone at this time of day. No one was really out in the noon-sun, save her and other ex-Hotland residents who doted on the scorching heat. A lot of monsters preferred to practice the art of the noonday nap, retreating into the comforts of their climate-controlled homes for lunchtime.

Alphys loved this weather, and her scales practically glowed in the summer sun. The sky was bright blue and large as when she'd first seen it, and a subtle breeze played through the trees as she rode beneath their boughs.

 _Way better than TV…_

Her little purple moped zipped through the streets, humming brilliantly. She couldn't get over the handling now that Susie had tinkered with it. The girl had a real knack for vehicles.

Alphys caught herself smiling. Not even the clinging sand could steal this happiness. By the time she rolled up in Charles' driveway, most of it had blown off.

The 'house' she drove up on was more of a _hole_ situated in the middle of an idyllic country clearing. Just outside of town the mole family could burrow freely without accidentally running into buried pipes or power lines.

A fuzzy mole, somehow even smaller than she herself, wobbled out of his burrow. He had a long snout and a pink nose protruding from underneath a huge hardhat. Bigger still was the smile on his face.

"Oh, thank the Lord you're here, Alphys!" Charles said. "You can park over there! Round by the diggers."

She pulled up near one of the many tunneling devices, careful to avoid the larger clumps of dirt as she locked the kick-stand of her moped.

"H-hey, Charles!" She couldn't help the stutter as she shuffled her devices around. She had a feeling she'd need all her equipment for this job. "So, where's the, uh, trouble at?"

"Trouble's in the bunker." Charles hobbled over to what were massive bunker doors. Alphys joined him.

"Situation is: I came in this morning and my CORE C-F was _exuding_ this ooze. Dark stuff. It's still doing it, even when I shut it down. But see, thing is, it _isn't_ shutting down. Can't get the remote controls to do anything, actually. If this keeps up the bunker'll flood!" he sounded quite alarmed, and rightfully so. "I didn't turn it on neither. Must've come on on its own! I've heard stranger things happening, but… that's just downright odd."

Alphys nodded, taking in the information. "So, how many hours had you, um, operated it before?"

"Oh, shoot. Probably around ten hours? Give or take."

"That's i-interesting…" Alphys took note on her phone. She slotted the figure beneath some others.

He poked with his nose at a simple tile puzzle, the lock to the bunker doors. He unlocked it in a jiffy, and the doors groaned open on heavy-duty hydraulics.

"Now, be careful. That weird LEAKAGE has been getting all over my PUZZLE and floor!" he lamented, shuffling down the ramp into the bunker below. "I put out a few platforms, though, so we should be high and dry!"

Charles hit the lights and the bunker overheads switched on, row by row, revealing an impressive depth. Impressive especially when dug by tiny mole-monsters like Charles (even if they were using digging machines).

"There she blows." His beady eyes looked to the monolith.

Occupying a decent chunk of the bunker was a generator tower from the CORE. It had been severed and made to operate independent of the whole. She still couldn't believe that this was possible. But who was she to wonder? She had a few pieces of the CORE herself back at her shop.

The tower was beautiful as ever, molded in metal alloy of a blue nature, detailed with chrome strips and motifs of the delta rune. She'd always been inspired by the craftsmanship; it was part of why she'd aspired to be a scientist… the _Royal Scientist_ , even.

They stepped closer, careful to keep to the platforms. This section of the bunker had quite the spillage coating its concrete. While mostly harmless, the dark substance did have a bad habit of taking the 'color' out of things. Or rather, the magic…

Upon cursory inspection, the CORE tower appeared fine. But then she saw the 'trouble' oozing down in lazy rivulets. The color was leeched from the affected panels in splotchy patterns.

The dark stuff was a natural part of the world, in trace amounts, but too much and things would go gray and… bizarre.

Alphys slipped on a pair of gloves, and replaced her glasses with goggles. A precaution, hopefully.

"Anyway, as you can see, there's the gross stuff." Charles gestured to the residue. "Not sure WHY but it's been spitting THIS out instead of magical electricity! I think the brain of it's gone plain nutty!"

Eking from between the etched plates it was. It consumed light, unreflective to all sources. The substance seemed almost unreal, in that sense, like a graphical error in their world.

She fumbled about with one of the side panels, unhooking it with some guidance from Charles. She gingerly plugged in her display port, connecting to the brain of the machine. Symbols began to flash on the screen at once, shocking her eyes. The stream of characters were ones she'd seen before.

Old entries… in a cold, foggy room… lighting up the shapes of twisted creations…

She pushed the thoughts away. Not now. Right now, she had an infected CORE component to deal with.

"I checked all the filters and pipes for clotting and such, in case you were wondering," Charles mentioned, "couldn't find anything."

Alphys skewed her lips. "That's good, but that's d-definitely not the problem. Looks like it's… b-bugged."

"Bugged?" Charles repeated.

"Yeah…"

The best way to deal with this problem was to just wipe the slate clean and not even mess with treating it. She thankfully had portable copies of most of the CORE's modular systems, ones which she'd had Sans himself comb through and cleanse of this peculiar… quirk.

Alphys thought she knew the type of column this was, but double-checked its label.

"51-C-F, right?"

"Right-o!"

This virus… of sorts, was truly a pesky nuisance. She'd dealt with it in her own CORE generator projects. It essentially strove to invert the magilectrical output. Instead of taking energy and converting it to magical _electricity_ , it converted it to this hardly useful byproduct. Normally, with production of normal magical electricity this byproduct was only a small fraction and could be dealt with via minimal filtration. But when this 'virus' kicked in, the processes went to overdrive, pushing out little magilectricity and buckets of the black goop.

Alphys assumed it was some sort of 'security breach' triggered 'virus' that all CORE modules came preloaded with, probably courtesy of sharing a majority of code. Essentially, it was a self-destruct with certain enigmatic criteria.

But at this point, with the CORE being dismantled… She liked to believe the breach was simply the act of being disconnected, and that it took a while for the virus to propagate its payload.

"Do you have this linked to any other systems, Charles?" Alphys asked, probing the back and taking care to not touch any goop, "any modifications beyond, w-well, the obvious?"

"All I suppose that I did that was strange was that I tried to link it to one of your tile puzzle pieces. Just to see if it could," he went over to a workbench as he talked, "you know how the CORE always was: swappable! But it just wouldn't register. The tile went dead and the C-F restarted."

Charles tilted up the dead tile. Indeed, it was gray now.

"A-and the connection was local?" Alphys made sure.

"Well, of course," Charles said, "you know it has to be."

She couldn't find a wireless device anywhere in the usual spots. They'd made a point of gutting those, but she wanted to check. The signal on her display was from the C-F alone. It kept on flashing symbols, faster than she could register now. Had it… sped up?

It didn't really matter, seeing that she had the key to unlocking this nonsense. A lot more than just blueprints had been left laying around in the lab…

"You haven't modified the brain in any way?" Alphys asked, more by protocol than anything.

Charles shook his head. "Couldn't if I tried!"

She chuckled and popped in a memory stick, loaded with what she liked to call the _Red Buster_ , since the stick was… colored red… and all the malarkey that these CORE components threw at it, the _Red Buster_ … busted them. Well, really it was just because Susie thought it sounded 'cool' compared to _CORE_SAVES_.

Using her display, she started the processes of the _Red Buster_ , and it began to crack down on the mess inside the generator's brain. The process was playing out just like it had on her own CORE components.

Alphys spoke up from her tech trance, "it looks like it's, uh, going to work. I'm going to be reinstalling it in a minute. H-hopefully that fixes everything."

"Oh, REALLY?!" Charles was ecstatic. "I thought it'd… take a bit. Wow. You really are a miracle worker! "

Alphys giggled at that comment, trying not to think too hard about certain histories.

"Yeah, yeah…" She set it up for a full wipe, and waited for her own program to run its course.

"Man, the SO would murder me if she saw this mess! Good thing you got done so quick! We may have time to get this up." Charles observed the black ooze that had crept over a large portion of the floor. Thankfully a berm of shop towels had kept it at bay. "Gotta' get the brood to clean this up before she tunnels home…" He pulled a notepad out of his hat and wrote down a reminder.

"You're… d-do you need any help?" Alphys asked as she waited on the installation.

"Us!? No!" Charles drawled, "clean up of filters was just part of the daily gauntlet back in the day."

Alphys nodded. "Ah. Y-yeah. Guess you guys did handle a lot of that with the CORE."

"Indeedy!" Charles then reminisced. "I thought I'd never miss that, but…"

Alphys could feel a conversation coming on. She was a bit tired, but decided to not make it any more awkward. "I miss it all too, sometimes."

She didn't.

"Man, my wife… She tells me to just let it go. But I just had to get and restore this generator. I just had to!" Charles was seeking some form of approval from his fellow geek. "Now that no one's down in the Underground and they done turned it off, the CORE ain't gettin' taken care of. To think, no one will ever get to see it like it was…"

"Y-yeah. It is a shame," Alphys tried to sympathize, and a feeling of melancholy tugged at her.

It was true, the CORE had been shut down four (or five?) years ago. Alphys had been summoned to make sure the shut down procedures went smoothly among others like Charles. She was more of an expert on CORE functions than even she knew. Her broad understanding of the overall functionality as well as the actual processes was a surprisingly rare commodity.

"I just gotta keep the legacy alive. I want to be able to show my grandpups this stuff, you know?" Charles' normally chipper voice had turned somber.

He did have a few gray hairs peppering his coat of brown, now that she looked at him. The intermittent shuddering of the CORE as it reinstalled distracted her for a moment. She checked the display port, and it seemed to be conducting properly.

Charles grumbled, "why don't they build a new one up here? I don't know! Not like we're NOT struggling for magilectricity up here. The human's straight electricity is just too harsh!"

"It'd-It'd be hard to conserve the magilectrical current over s-such a long distance, even if we tapped the closest magma chamber," she explained, trying not to sound too exhausted.

"There's one near the mount, though," Charles said.

Alphys glanced over to Mount Ebott. It rose above the tree line ever-so-subtly.

She scrunched her face up.

"The gorge?"

"Yeah!"

"And r-risk creating some kind of-of magical volcano?"

Charles frowned.

"Humans thinking we're gonna bring on the apocalypse by drilling a few holes," he muttered, "but shoving an entire _race_ in a hole isn't a problem…"

Alphys sighed. "They're not wrong. The apocalypse _can_ happen."

"I know how you are, Alphys," Charles tried to calm his tone, "I know you like humans. They're not so bad…" but he couldn't help get animated, "but still! It's just annoying!"

"I know." She played along.

Charles shook his head. "Sorry for jawing at ya."

"It's OK." She offered a crooked smile.

The reinstall was complete, which meant she'd have to stop talking! Hooray! And as a bonus, the generator looked like it was taking nicely to the new installation.

"I'd love to see a new CORE-facility. Maybe we'll get to build one, one day?" she offered, trying to end this on a high note. "H-harness the sun or something!"

"What about hydro?" Charles counter-offered.

"And be surrounded by water?" Alphys raised a brow.

"Hey, it's not like you gotta be a turbine yourself!" Charles chuckled, and then asked sincerely, "…right? That's not a thing, is it?"

"No," Alphys replied with a snicker.

She took out the _Red Buster_ and checked the generator core. She hit the off switch and the machine shuddered, powering down like a normal component.

"Oh! Is it off?" Charles was curious.

There was still seeping, but it seemed to have slowed already.

"W-well! It's shut down properly… I think!" she tried to sound sure. She was pretty sure, actually.

Charles then waddled over, checking for the gunk. "Let's wipe it down and see."

Alphys helped the short mole get the generator mostly cleaned. As he finished up, she checked the displays once more, and they were now calm and displaying legible characters.

After a good fifteen minutes of scrutiny, the CORE generator had most likely stopped producing the gunk and was really, truly off.

"Alright, it should be ready to reboot," she informed, "c-could you…?"

"Turn it back on?" Charles finished her sentence. "Already got the remote."

Charles turned the machine back on with a cute click of a button. The CORE C-F began to hum in tune, oscillating to a hidden beat. Its neon was aglow, drifting from red to soft orange, and pulsing like a racing heartbeat. Dots of blue fluttered on and off, highlighting the internal processes of the machine.

"Magnificent!" he remarked.

Alphys blinked at the dazzling display. The dark stuff had really taken its color before, hadn't it? Compared to now, it had almost turned monochrome.

"I know, I know. The restored neon was a bit pricey. But I had to!" Charles defended the blinking lights, quite aware of how stunned she looked.

"W-what? Oh!" Alphys offered another crooked smile. "I think they're great!"

Charles returned the smile, self-satisfied to boot.

He followed her out of the bunker as she put her equipment in the back of her moped. "Alright. What's the damage, Doctor?"

"Shouldn't be much," Alphys assured him. She pulled out a hand little attachment to her phone and wrote up a bill for her services. "Just charging you for the hour." She was done just like that, and handed him the paper. She was proud of how natural that was! She wasn't bumbling for once!

Charles scrutinized the bill, then her equally. "Let me go get it. Come on!" He gestured for her to follow, and he led her back to the hole that was the house.

It was a very modest steel hatch, with an ivy furnishing around its aperture. He quickly jotted through another security puzzle, and the hatch opened with a hiss and a squelch. The inside was surprisingly well lit for a domicile primarily made for moles. There were floor lights all the way back to the end of the great hall, and the beginnings of other tunnels could be seen all along its length. Alphys imagined it would be quite fun to live in such a twisty house, but maybe that was her more primitive _reptilian_ nature coming out.

"Right, I'll be just a second," he told her, making sure she was through the hatch before it closed behind them. "Wait here."

She watched him shuffle off into the tunnels, disappearing into a side-hole that wasn't quite so illuminated. She stayed put in the entry-tunnel like he'd said to, right next to the tiny hat-rack and subterranean flower arrangement. A few moments passed and she caught herself fiddling with her coat, wrapping it around and through her fingers. Alphys' claws itched, yet she resisted the urge to get her phone out and check messages.

Alphys took a breath in, calmed as she singled out the various sounds reverberating down the tubular halls. The earthy aroma had a hint of patchouli-based potpourri to it, which played nicely with the fresh lemon oil and root musk she sensed as well.

Charles popped out of a tunnel, shaking a trace amount of dirt off his coat before waddling back up to her. "All right, here's the pay!" his voice was a loud shock in the relative quiet.

"Oh!" She realized something, readjusting her glasses hurriedly. "Oh g-gosh… did I f-forget to tell you to make the check out t-to-"

"Check? How about gold!" Charles smacked a pouch into her open palms.

"G-gold?" She looked at the pouch as if it were an alien life-form. "Uhm…" She swallowed.

"We do things the old-fashioned way here," Charles sounded amused by her reaction. "That's just the MOLE WAY! I will need a receipt, though."

"Charles, I-" She checked the weight. "This isn't at all what I-"

"Come on! You're a life-saver! And you came an hour early." He didn't seem inclined to take any of it back.

It was just going to be one of _those_ situations.

"Go out and buy something nice for the shop, or your daughte-I mean, your _apprentice_! A new tool or some such," he encouraged her.

"Charles, _p-please_ …" Alphys tried to be nice.

"Go on!" He pushed her toward the hatch, in good humor, of course.

Alphys stopped at the threshold. She looked him in the eyes, smiling warmly, if a little sheepishly. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome, Alphys," Charles said sincerely. "Besides, I have faith in your methods. You did get your own generators working, and the ones down in the gorge too, somehow."

Alphys nodded, placing the gold in a secure, buttoned pocket. "I d-did, didn't I?"

"Indeedy!"

She printed out a receipt, dating and marking it with her scraggly signature.

"Now, I'm sure I've tied you up for far too long." Charles walked her out onto the lawn. "Come on back sometime when you're not workin'. The pups miss ya."

"Aw, well, uh…" Alphys felt a bit of perspiration coming on. She couldn't remember any of the pup's names. _Whoops!_ "T-t-tell them I miss them too!" Alphys got up on her moped.

"S-see you, Charles," she said, starting up the engine.

"Bye now!" he called as she rode back up the drive-way.

Once she'd hit the road, and had a fresh breeze in her face, she began to feel better. The feedback of the machine was far more natural to her than her own body. Maybe that feeling should've worried her, but at this stage in her life? Well…

The thrum of the engine and rumble of the road droned out certain pressing thoughts.

 _Like all that sand…_

She wondered if she should call Sans. Ugh… she'd just go over to see him later. Right now she was just tired. So very tired. Her outburst on the beach had really taken it out of her, hadn't it?

She went homeward, straight to the northwestern edge of town. There, on a dead-end road, was their- well, actually just _Alphys's…_ house. The home was a two-story country style with little nonsense to its architecture. Once, it had been cute perhaps, but now it looked a little damp. She needed to remember to prune the vines growing up the side and winding into the paneling. Later.

She pulled up the driveway, and found a spot amidst the various ongoing projects to park her moped in.

She still had some other matters to check on, namely a few computer cases, but first she needed that meal she'd missed at lunchtime thanks to pesky messages in bottles.

The shop was a new addition to a relatively old home, and as such, the two directly connected via a white porch door. She unlocked it with a pattern of magic unique to herself and shuffled inside.

The interior of the house was a bit cluttered, and kind of grossly lit. The walls were clad in old wood-paneling and the ceilings were coated in cottage cheese. She didn't even want to talk about the linoleum. The furniture was all probably third hand at the very best, and a film of junk mail, packaging, and mechanical equipment had collected on just about every horizontal surface.

But it was _home._

She took a deep breath and smelled… ham?

Alphys could hear the soft din of an action anime in the kitchen area. Like a moth to a flame, she wandered towards it.

Susie was in the kitchen, eating a ham sandwich distractedly and watching some sort of ninja anime. Only naturally.

"Holy shit…" Susie remarked as one of the ninjas turned into a giant pile of hair and attacked another who was ninety percent neck.

It used to be rare for Alphys to have not seen just about any anime, but nowadays it was getting more common. Humans just kept releasing them, apparently! Which was good. But they just didn't have the same magic to her as they used to, oddly enough.

"What… is this?" Alphys commented.

"I dunno'. Ninja anime?" Susie said.

Susie, though she loved her, was about as helpful as a box of rocks sometimes.

"That… e-explains nothing," Alphys grumbled. "Oh wait. This is…"

This was one of… well, _that other person who liked anime's_ old favorites. It had swords and fighting. Of course. Now Alphys knew why she'd tried to remove it from her memory.

She tried to tune it out as she grabbed for… well, all the pantry had was ramen, actually. The fridge was no better, yielding only a carton of milk, some sweet relish, and a gigantic ham that Susie had been carving away at for the week.

Alphys boiled some water, hydrating a rectangle of the noodle product, her motions so rote they were nearly mechanical.

"A-any other calls?" Alphys asked.

"Nah, just Papyrus telling me that his brother was prank calling people," Susie said. "Turns out the prank was getting Papyrus to call everyone and tell them sans would prank call them. Which Papyrus called everyone to tell them about. So I guess Papyrus got pranked twice. Huh."

They both chuckled at the skeletal hijinks.

Alphys tried to ignore the show and ate her ramen in relative quiet, besides slurping a bit around her overbite. Thankfully, Susie didn't care, or at least didn't make it known that the noise bothered her. Out of boredom, Alphys couldn't help but inspect Susie in all her purple glory.

She noted that Susie didn't smell like a leaf-pile, which was good, and she was dressing nicer now that Alphys had done a bit of loose outfit planning with her. Oh, and Susie hadn't tried to eat a face in… a solid year? Maybe two, even.

This was progress.

Alphys remembered the gold in her coat pocket. Almost all of that would go into the _Top Secret School_ fund, for when Susie… well, Alphys imagined that if Susie was actually learning and becoming a good student _now_ , she'd just want to learn more in the future! And Alphys was going to foot the bill.

Of course, it was at that moment Alphys noticed a giant knot in Susie's hair. Alphys couldn't help but reach out and try to gently un-tangle it. Susie griped and pulled away, patting down the snarl herself.

"Y-you missed a spot," Alphys mentioned.

"Ugh…" Susie shoved the entire latter half of her ham sandwich in her mouth. Alphys was endeared by the way Susie tried to get her hair to do anything other than be a wild mane. Finally, Susie gave up.

"We should get your hair cut." Alphys got up and took her bowl to the sink.

"Nooooooooo…" Susie moaned.

"Yesssssssssss," Alphys mimicked her. "we can go to the, uh, r-range after you get your hair cut. So you can actually see the targets instead of just bangs. That'll be fun!"

"…all right. You got me." She could see Susie's eyes soften, even under all that hair. "That's pretty fun."

"I'll have to remember to make an appointment then!"

Alphys rinsed the bowl and put it in the dishwasher. She was ever thankful for the invention, and honestly had no idea why it'd never struck her to make her own. Alphys was pretty sure Toriel was saying something with the gift, but… she really didn't care.

"'Kay," Alphys checked the time, and told Susie, "I'm going to go work on a few things. You got the phone?"

"Aye," Susie replied. "Oh, by the way, the hotfridge is almost done. The one we've been working on for the Holidays."

"Great!" Alphys was actually proud, but didn't want to… well, jump the gun. Susie had just started working on hotfridges in her stead. "Uh, let me know when you get it done done, O-OK?"

"Right," Susie said.

Susie stared at Alphys, and she could see the gears turning in that fuzzy, purple head of hers. Alphys wrung her hands out while waiting, subconsciously.

"Hey. Uh…" Susie cleared her throat. "You were at the beach, huh?"

"Y-yeah…" Alphys cast her eyes down to the scuffed linoleum, studying the marks.

Here it came.

"Get a letter?"

Alphys looked up at her. "No."

"Damn."

Susie sounded so resigned. Alphys hated it. This lying, again. Especially lying to Susie, but… It was better that she didn't know everything.

"It's been months. You'd think she'd send another."

"Y-yeah. You'd… think."

Alphys _thought_ it was better. Last time she'd shown Susie what had been written… well, Susie had spent the next couple days learning how to patch drywall.

"Uh. Well." Susie paused, quiet. "See you in a few." She put the Styrofoam plate she'd been using in the trash and sauntered out the porch door and into the garage. Her walk was a bit stiffer than usual.

Well, that was that.

Alphys went to her computer room. Dozens of PCs were laid out, their wires crisscrossed into a nest. Tubs and tubs of components lined the walls, hanging over fold-out tables that were cobbled together into some form of work hub. Spools of cable sat atop dusty stacks of various CDs and externals. There was even a shop vac on one of the tables.

It was a mess, but it was her mess; her domain.

Alphys plopped into the resident office chair, a familiar pop emitting from the worn-out lumbar. Her feet didn't quite make it to the floor, so she hauled herself around by grabbing the lips of the tables. She pulled over to her primary display and brought up her CORE malfunction record sheets, closing out a 'fun value' doc to do so.

She logged in the data from today's haywire CORE component, eyes scanning over the entries and how they related to each other.

A pattern was emerging.

Alphys blinked.

Or was there…?

Ugh, she didn't know. Not enough data. And no matter how much she wanted to speculate, she had to stave off the temptation. She had a few PCs to reassemble, and perhaps some malware to destroy. Wasn't one of the computer's disk drives shot? She picked up a corresponding sheet, the details of what was going on refreshing her memory. She pulled over to her workstation, getting out the necessary tools.

Time to lose herself in the work. She felt at ease when it was just her and the machines. Feeling the pieces slide together with the expert knowledge that they truly fit; the repeat failures and the breakthroughs of success… such things were her joy.

Repairs were soothing, honestly. The thing started off broke, without hope, and came out the other end of the process working. And if it didn't… there weren't horrifying ethical complications! Compared to what she had been doing before, this work was stress-free.

Work was still work, though. Hours went by, and she had to take a break.

Alphys massaged beneath her glasses. Letting out a groan, she sat back and rolled her head, loosening her shoulders. She kept trying to fight it, the weariness, but…

…eventually her energy expenditures got her, and she fell asleep.

As though the universe were conspiring against Alphys, a scuffling on the wall outside roused her from her impromptu rest. _Something_ twisted against the panes.

There was the rolling noise as the window was lifted up, and the snap of flexing vines as they slithered into the room.

" _Whossit_?" She lifted her head, a charger cable stuck to her cheek.

"Rise and shine, _Doctor_ Alphys! Rise and shine…" A familiar voice drawled out what she figured was a poor country-fied impersonation of a famous video game character.

"Flowey….?" She turned, blinking. She couldn't see a thing. Oh no. Where were her glasses?!

She slapped about the workbench, sighing in relief as she clapped onto them. "I'm not… in the mood," Alphys tried to get the sleep out of her voice. She fiddled with her glasses. Making them rest properly on her face was a challenge when half-asleep.

"Aw!" Flowey slunk closer. "Do you need me to read you back to sleep?"

"…I will kick you out." Alphys growled, "can't you see…? I'm trying to-to avert a… an uh, tiny apocalypse…?" She gestured to the CORE data that was…

Oh gosh, it'd gone to a screen saver slide-show of her favorite anime pairings.

"Uh…" Flowey side-eyed the screen in all its tender, beautiful OTP-glory. "Oh my God, you ship THAT!? They're totally wrong for each othe-"

A bolt of electricity singed the windowsill.

"AAA-" Flowey's scream died in his throat. "Are you trying to set your house on fire!?"

Alphys glowered.

"OK. Chill," Flowey admitted, "ship and let ship."

Alphys turned around, mostly to avoid grinning at Flowey. Watching him panic was cathartic, in a sense, when she subtracted the complex emotions surrounding his very creation.

"You're in a terrible mood!" Flowey complained. "You were at the beach, weren't you!?"

"None of your damned business!" Alphys snapped. She'd had it with that today, and gave Flowey a stern point of the claw. "If you bring that up one more time-"

"Waitwaitwait." Flowey waved a few leafy stems as if they were hands. "Hold your horses. I actually am here to give you a HUGE heads up concerning a… well, a special visitor to our sleepy town! Heh."

Alphys scowled.

"They're gonna be here in an hour or so, and boy do we got planning to do!" Flowey snickered. "I'd usually go to my _biggest fan_ for this, but I have a feeling with THIS person… you should get first dibs."

"What are you talking about?" Alphys shook her head.

"I am talking about a little… retribution on an old… _'friend'_ of yours." Flowey bounced a brow. "A… ' _friend'_. If ya know what I mean."

Alphys squinted at him. "Shut up." She swiveled the chair away, messing with a few computer parts in an attempt to ignore him.

Flowey's not-quite-natural aroma wafted over her as he crawled up by her desk fan.

Flowey sing-songed, "I read the letter!"

"The letter?" Wait, had Flowey… gone before her and…?

"What," Flowey tried to sound innocent, "you don't think a flower can read?"

"No, I…" Alphys balked.

If he'd read the letter then… Truth being told Alphys had gotten so mad she hadn't even gotten to the P.S. part of the message. Could it be true? Was _she_ coming back?

The letter did sound a bit… reflective.

Maybe she _was_ coming.

Alphys' gut turned. She felt sick. The urge to fight and fly hit her all at once, and she choked up.

"Papyrus and Sans were supposed to get a call too, but they were too busy tying up lines with prank calls and stupidity! So I felt I had to come tell you, y'know, personally. Flora a lagartija." Flowey mentioned, "oh, and I think YOUR phone is dead too! You haven't replied to ONE text message! And those aren't easy for me to type."

Alphys felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"Wow, this must mean a lot to you…" Flowey tipped his stem, narrowing his beady eyes at her. "I didn't think that it-"

"OF COURSE THIS…!" Alphys yelled, then controlled herself. Susie was around. " _…of course,_ this means a l-lot."

"Well, we should probably get going, then! I said an hour… right?" Flowey counted his own petals. "They're probably going to be here early, if anything. Let me tell you, they're _not_ one to miss deadlines!"

Alphys stared out the window, her gaze far away. "Of course not. _'They'_ never missed deadlines."

"So, what kind of prank are we gonna…" A great flash blinded him for a moment. Flowey glanced up and Alphys was gone, the desk chair spinning lazily.

She went and did it again! Bolting, quite literally, away from him.

"…crap."

Alphys was on her moped and off to the sea. Pier three, to be exact. That's where _she'd_ walked in.

Alphys thought it best if Susie didn't come. (And especially Flowey, the little creeper.)

Alphys and her… _'friend'_ … would have to hash out a lot of things before Alphys even considered letting her come near the house again.

She also didn't have faith that Susie and her wouldn't cause sizable amounts of property damage. It would be best if they were reintroduced to each other in a wide open, natural environment.

Alphys realized she couldn't tell the difference between them and wild animals in that thought, so she stopped thinking.

The ocean stretched on forever. It was impossibly deep. There was no end to it. It cycled endlessly back into itself, all across the Surface.

When Alphys had first seen it, she'd been overwhelmed. The warm sands were pleasing, and the surf exciting. But the vast breadth of the horizon was too much for her to take in. Alphys had only been getting over the sky itself, and when this first met her eyes… Alphys had cried.

And _she'd_ cried too. Tears flowing from a golden eye, slicking down her blue scales. She was the first monster to rush into the waves. They'd crested around her, framing her in pearly white. And there was that snapshot. Alphys could see her turn back, fangs bared in the most beautiful grin.

Now the beach was empty.

Alphys stepped over a dead jellyfish. With eyes scanning for broken shards of glass, she wandered the packed sand, letting the subtle waves chill her bare feet. It was freezing, but she didn't care.

It was really petty, but she hated it.

She hated the ocean.

That sounded so dumb to say.

But it was true.

She heard the gulls cry; the waves crash. The sour odor drifted in. There were cracks on a certain section of the sea wall. A certain section where they'd sat together, for the first time. Together.

The ocean just kept stretching on forever. Now the sun was setting. The sky was washed with colors, and amber rays outlined the shapes of clouds.

Alphys' lips curled. It stung.

 _The flower lied._

She sat with that for an hour, maybe two… three? Time was starting to become a haze. This day might never end.

Sometime after her revelation, she heard someone marching toward her, and the trousling of bones…

Alphys knew she must've looked terrible. Her sudden self-consciousness was a good thing, less time to think about the sad stuff.

Papyrus never hesitated to talk… unless even he could discern the mood. He watched the sunset, standing beside her. Quiet.

This was just way too strange.

"You can… s-say what you need to…" Alphys muttered, "I'm not going to… I-I don't know."

She rested her head in her hands.

Papyrus sat down in the sand.

"Sometimes I like to sit out here too."

Alphys was confused. She was… honestly not expecting this.

"It helps me process! And remember… certain things…" The bony ridges of his face drew up as he frowned.

"All that e-ever happens when I c-come here is that I get sad," Alphys growled, "…or-or mad! Or both."

"Maybe being here isn't a great idea, then," Papyrus suggested.

"I'm just s-so… stupid." She massaged her temples.

"Oh, I do know a thing or two about feeling stupid," Papyrus tried to sound a tad positive, "even the Great Papyrus makes mistakes!"

Alphys side-eyed him.

He glanced away from her, back out at the glittering waves. "Why, most of my day today was squandered warning the populace of a prank-calling epidemic! Only to find that that very noble act of my own was THE PRANK! Naturally, to make amends, I called everyone back again and told them that I had been pranking by proxy, which… now that I think on it… might have been part of the prank too! Wait a minute! Did I get pranked _twice_?"

"OH. MY. GOD." Her voice was strained.

"I… didn't think it was that bad." Papyrus was small.

"I AM SO S-S-S-STUPID!" Alphys burst out, raging, "The flower LIED! He lieeed to me! AND I FELL FOR IT!"

Papyrus' ever-smiling face was a little panicked. "Alphys, please! Calm down. I'm positive that it's a misunderstanding."

"MISUNDERSTANDING!?" Alphys rounded. "SHE'S NOT HERE!" She gestured wildly at the open expanses of sand and sea around them.

"She?" Papyrus asked.

Alphys was livid.

"Are you… talking about…" Papyrus said the word, " _…Undyne?_ "

"YES! I'M TALKING ABOUT _UNDYNE_!" Alphys exploded. "WHO ELSE WOULD I WAIT BY THE OCEAN FOR IN THIS EXACT SPOT FOR _SEVEN HOURS_?! ON THE FAINTEST OF HOPES GIVEN BY A-A-A _LYING FLOWER!? AND I'VE ALREADY BEEN HERE TODAY!_ "

"You've been here _seven hours_?" Papyrus was doubly concerned.

"YES! SEVEN WHOLE HOURS OF MY LIFE! WASTED!" Alphys continued her rage, "AGAIN!"

"You should… probably lay down and stop screaming!" Papyrus reached out to her, offering his best advice, "you look… quite zappy."

"I'm going home!"

"Alphys! Wait-"

She turned.

"I was… I need to tell you something. But you must calm down!" Papyrus was firm on that, standing. He waited for Alphys to stop looking so… electrifying. "Just… breathe. Please?"

Alphys breathed in and out, letting the frantic scattering of her magic coalesce. She opened her eyes and stared up at Papyrus. "OK. What?"

Papyrus let out a breath of relief. "Alright. I do not want things to get belligerent, so try to remain calm as I tell you this: there IS someone in town to see you, and they're at the diner-"

"She's at the DINER? Why didn't she come here first?! WHY DIDN'T SHE COME FIND ME?! _OH MY GOD!_ " Alphys clutched her head.

"Alphys, don't-"

She zipped away, her body moving like an arc of lighting. Not even the esteemed distance jogger Papyrus could keep up! She was, in a pun, _lighting fast_.

"WAIT!"

He watched her bolt, helplessly behind. Papyrus just worried it'd be a repeat of last time she'd expended so much energy. Her magic was potent, volatile, but it didn't have much in the way of endurance…

"SLOW DOWN!"

Alphys couldn't even hear him anymore, what with the growl of electric energy and the growing distance. She peeled into the parking lot of the diner, angled perfectly to barge in. She came through the doors and skidded to a standstill in the center of the dining area. She was sweaty, red-eyed, and wore a twitching grimace.

Grillby's flames stilled to a candle's flicker out of shock. The family of rabbits all froze as well, one with a bite half-bitten. The waitress somehow ceased pouring mid-pour, goggling Alphys along with the rest of the monsters.

Alphys scanned the perimeter for _her._ But there wasn't a snatch of blue in sight. But what was in sight, was a snatch of _pink._

A hideous squelching sound, like that of latex on synthetic leather, broke the silence. Completely unaware of the danger he was in, he wheeled around on the bar stool, throwing his arms open.

"ALPHY!" Mettaton's face lit up with a smile. "My dearest _dearie_! You look- _oh wow._ UM." His face fell as he noticed her heavy breathing and grit-encrusted clothes.

She glared at him, his sparkling aura dredging up a primal surge.

Mettaton gestured toward her limply. "The-you've got some… uhm… hi? Hello?"

Alphys just kept glaring.

He laughed, nervously.

Her nose wrinkled. Her claws curled. Static electricity built in the air.

Mettaton's eyes widened, and he leaned backwards.

And just before the air snapped, she did. Her legs wobbled and her head swam, vision darkening. The last thing she saw was the floor coming up to greet her.


	2. Emotionally Recharged

"Back! Everyone BACK!" Mettaton's voice amplified, and the other monsters heeded his commanding change of tone. The bunny family reseated themselves, and the waiter lion retracted their paws, stepping back.

Mettaton scooped Alphys up into his noodly arms, and checked her voltage.

"Ugh, you stupid lizard…" he commented softly, under his breath. She'd gone and depleted herself! This just wouldn't do.

He checked his own charge. He had a bit of juice to spare before he'd go into a hard-shut down. Excellent! He wouldn't have to find an outlet.

Mettaton knelt down and coiled his arms around her, slowly and snugly. Once he'd lapped most of her body save her face, he began to donate magilectricity. Ever so slightly he increased the current, leveling off at a decent rate.

The patrons watched in silence as he worked, his painted features growing terse as he concentrated.

Color came back to her body, and she again started to glow, ever so softly. Her scales went from dull taupe to vibrant yellow. Mettaton felt his components decompress in relief as she began to squirm.

Mettaton leaned back, against one of the booths at the front of the diner. He needed to sit like this for a while longer, just to make sure she had enough. It was surprising and a bit… alarming… to feel just how low she'd gotten on magilectricity. What had she even done to get this tired?

Realizing himself, he glanced around at the occupants of the diner, smiling serenely as he could.

"It's alright, darlings," he assured them in his most eloquent register, "she just needs a minute to recharge. As you were!"

Just as everyone got re-situated and the tension released, Papyrus smashed through the diner doors, nearly breaking the glass, and almost tripped on the welcome mat in his rush. Grillby gesticulated angrily at the antics, and mostly at sans, who had apparently fallen asleep on the counter.

Papyrus was visibly excited to see Mettaton, but when he saw Alphys he gasped.

"OH MY GOD YOU KILLED HER!" Papyrus cried out.

Mettaton groaned, and his eyes rolled back in his head. "I did not kill her! Calm down and sit down, please."

"METTATON HOW COULD YOU? SHE CREATED YOU. AND SHE LOVED YOU."

"Oh, for the love of-" Mettaton was stern. "Stop shouting. You'll wake her up. I have this under control."

One of the bunnies, namely the shopkeeper from up the road, leaned out of a booth and gave Papyrus a pointed look. "Papyrus, hun. He didn't kill her," she was so polite in the way she said, "now shut your yap and sit yourself down."

Several other patrons and the waiter nodded their heads, backing her up.

"OH! Is that so?" Papyrus got the picture. "That's a RELIEF! I thought I'd have to apprehend my favorite TV star in hand to hand combat in this…" Papyrus glowered at the greasy-smelling diner. "…this 'unique' and 'not-particularly-healthy' establishment."

Grillby flickered in contempt.

"I'll be waiting outside!" Papyrus announced, "someone tell me when she wakes up!"

He marched out the doors.

"What a goof," the bunny lady remarked, and then turned to Mettaton. "You sure you don't need anything? I got some supplies in my purse."

"Yeah, she's got EVERYTHING in there," said a baby bun. Their eyes and wriggling nose barely peeked over the table's edge.

"Oh, we're just peachy, miss. Thank you, though," he kept his voice low, and his movements minimal as he readjusted Alphys into a more comfortable position in the coils. "She's just… out of batteries."

"Yeah! Alphys's made out of zaps!" One of the other bunny children remarked excitedly. "She told me that herself."

Mettaton chuckled. "Yes she is."

There was but the soft clatter of silverware, and the hushed voices of the patrons as they mindfully finished their meals. Grillby relaxed, and his flames fanned out after being kept at a candle's quiver for so long. He resumed cleaning mugs once more, as all bartenders were wont to do. Sans snored softly, snuggling a ketchup bottle.

Mettaton closed his eyes. Focusing on magic, and especially on hers, was easier without the visual input from his cameras. The world was shockingly vibrant to his more… 'ethereal' senses, where the entirety of reality was sorted out by the plethora of how it interacted with magical energy.

The wooden interior was discerned by the texture it provided as the magic ran and reverberated through the space. Warmth was cast off Grillby in shocking waves, flooding the space and acting as a natural, pleasant central heating. The bunnies' magics rose like clouds, and were multifarious in shape, density and size, just like the real thing. Several other monsters hummed with energy further toward the back, and sans' deep well of magic rested peacefully as he slept on the bar. Even the waiter lion had their own distinct aura: a strong, rigid magic… one which was slow to move but hard to stop.

Mettaton wasn't focused on them, though, he was focused on her.

Alphys' own aura was a shock of blistering bolts, all trapped inside the tiniest of forms. Mettaton's body needed the same sprightly magilectricity to function, thankfully.

He felt his own charge depleting, and her form grew bright as his extremities numbed. The frequency of squirms increased, which meant she was probably 'charged' enough to be awake again. Mettaton opened his eyes, cameras coming back online.

Alphys' lids fluttered, and finally she blinked awake. For a few moments, she was too stunned to even move.

Did she pass out? _Was she dead?_ Probably not. Where was she? The diner, apparently. Was she… wrapped in a cable? Wait, who was…?

She wrenched her head around and glanced up, getting a load of a face she'd spent years master-crafting from a compilation of beautiful anime husbandos. Oh no. Alphys really, _really_ couldn't handle Mettaton right now.

Maybe this was all a dream, a… well, no, she normally didn't pass out and wake up again within nightmares. Darn. She could've really gone for pinning this experience on a bad dream.

"Al? Are you awake?" Mettaton asked, leaning forward.

She looked at him, again, and her eyes were bleached. Had he gotten even more handsome?! It was the eyebrows, wasn't it? That wasn't allowed! She hadn't approved these new eyebrows! Who did this person think they were, redesigning his eyebrows?

"Alphys, you look sick," Mettaton mentioned the terrible expression she was pulling while looking at him. "Are you feeling better?"

The coils shifted, and her scales crawled. He was donating his magilectricity… which was, rather thoughtful. But this was the most uncomfortable way to receive it. She was basically a mummy, and she could not move… not unless she bolted, which would probably result in another black out.

Honestly, though, striking into bed orbital-style sounded like a good idea at this point.

"I-I'm fine! Just… just let me go," she tried to not trip up too much.

Mettaton gave her a scrutinizing side-eye.

"H-honestly!"

He acquiesced, skeptically. "Alright, if you say so."

She flopped ungracefully onto the ground, wriggling about to right herself. The pitter-patter of her feet, along with the sudden motion, drew all eyes. Alphys felt them keenly, and so put Mettaton's legs between herself and them.

Alphys' attempts to straighten out her coat led to disgust at how sandy it was. Her feet and the bottoms of her pants were encrusted with grit! She also smelled _absolutely terrible_. Was that just sea salt or was that sweat?

Mettaton was watching her, too.

She froze. "What?"

"Are you," he drew out the words, "feeling better?"

She took a moment to process. She felt… fine?

"Yeah. I-I'm not… uh, I don't feel l-like I'm going to pass out. If you were, well, wondering…?"

Mettaton nodded , and turned mechanically to the few remaining patrons. "She'll live!"

He gave a thumbs up and a magazine-cover-ready smile. There were a few claps and a hurray, even, from the denizens in the diner.

Mettaton swung the top half of his body back to her. He pursed his lips, pensive, and then took her hand, having to slink it down comically low to ensure a proper hold.

"C'mere! Let's start this all over." He led her back to the doorway, excited. "A little _reset_ , as they say."

She wasn't really all there yet, and was led along dumbly. What were they…?

"You stay there," he directed her.

She folded her hands, unsure.

"Everyone just go back to eating and whatever!" Mettaton told the other monsters. A few people ignored him entirely, while a few appeared even more awkward than before.

Alphys curled her tail around her feet, and she squinted at Mettaton as she worked through whatever he was up to. What was he…? Oh no.

Instinctively, Alphys began to hunt for cameras.

Mettaton plopped down on the stool besides sans once more. "Now, you just pretend like you JUST came in."

Alphys was busy checking herself for cameras. "Huh?"

"Ready! Go."

He turned back toward the bar, in the same pose as when she'd first burst in. Then, as if she'd just come in, he turned around on the stool.

"OH, MY _DEAREST DEARIE_ _ **DEAR**_! ALPHYS!" Mettaton beamed, and then leapt up and rushed over to her.

She was dead still as he wrapped her up in a coiling hug.

"HOW ARE YOU?!" his voice blared in her ear.

She said and did nothing.

"Oh, come on!" Mettaton broke character. "That was a much better reunion, don't you think?"

He tipped his head, a big grin on his face.

Her stunned expression shifted to a glare.

"I'm really fucking tired of you, Mettaton." She said it straight and loud.

He froze.

She _never_ said things straight and loud.

"Put me down."

And he did, carefully.

"That… well." Mettaton cleared his throat. "I-You…" He stepped away, unsure of what kind of posture to take.

She was _livid_.

"You drop off the face of the earth for four weeks! _Four!_ And then you suddenly waltz into town and just expect me to be happy to play along!?" Alphys' snout wrinkled, and her tail lashed. "Am I the only person who still has some common sense around here?"

All eyes were on the spectacle. Mettaton was… speechless. He'd turned a shade of pink. Out of embarrassment or anger, she didn't know. She didn't care.

The diner was deafeningly quiet.

"That's… funny, Alphys! Really…" he stammered, "not the most appropriate for… well, public. Right?"

He just smiled, at her, so huge it hurt to look at.

Mettaton had many different smiles, and this one was the panic smile.

The tension only built in the ensuing silence. She could feel it. If he could, Mettaton probably would've begun to perspire. Deep down, in some way, it was refreshing to watch him be the fool, to watch him trip, to-

 _Oh, God… this was deplorable._

Alphys felt her entire body flush. She clasped her hands over her snout, trying to get a hold on herself, truly. Mortification hit. "I-I-I… I am so sorry. I just… I had a bad day."

She looked like an actual witch right now, didn't she?

"E-everyone… just forget I said anything," she squeaked, "or-or that I was here… j-just…"

She ran. Out the door and into the night, far from the diner's orange glow.

Into the dark with her.

Why did she ever open her buck-toothed mouth?

She ran, or more like scuttled, on all fours. She found herself in a crooked corner, between buildings. An alley, wasn't it? She could smell something rotten, overpowering even the sea salt in her clothes.

She stopped, drawing quick breaths, and sat amidst broken pallets, obscured by several trash cans.

Alphys was crying now, just outright blubbering. It was really unbecoming, but she guessed she'd earned it.

She rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, and EUGH! THE SAND. Just salt in the wound, huh? She sobbed harder.

And then she heard the telltale clicks of heels.

Alphys tried to choke back the tears, clearing her vision enough to see… something. It was too dark to really make out his face, but the profile was unmistakable. The way he was walking, or rather stomping, toward her…

He was _pissed_.

Mettaton tore right into it, "do you think I wanted to be gone for four weeks? You have no idea what I've-" he blustered, his vocals flattening out, "I waited all day for you! And then you rush in, pass out, I have to recharge you, and then you-"

She couldn't take it; she started crying again. What a classic, she snapped at the person who helped her. What was she? A wild animal?

Mettaton's fury dissipated. He took pause, gathered himself, and re-ordered a few matters.

"You," he focused on her, "something is really wrong. What is it?"

"I'm… I'm sorry…" was all she could manage.

He waved that away. "Whatever. I was being an ass." He asked again, "what's going on with _you_?"

"We were talking… and texting… and then-" Alphys felt a surge. "You haven't been in town in _years_."

Mettaton shifted his weight, his eyes inspecting the ground intently all of the sudden.

He was curt. "I know. There's an… explanation."

"Are you h-hurt?!" Her mind got away from her. "Did-Did something h-happen?"

"No. _No_. Just… poor time management. Remote film locations. Uh…" Mettaton stifled himself, "…stuff I don't really want to talk about out here."

"Uh…" Alphys tilted her head. "OK?"

"I _will_ explain," he promised, "later."

He glanced up and down the alley they found themselves in, and his lips curled in disgust. He sighed and looked back to Alphys.

"You saved me from having to like… go to a hospital, didn't you?" she said, trying to find something positive, "did you use the charge from your batteries?"

"Alphys…" he said.

"T-that's pretty smart," she couldn't help how thin her voice was, "did I, uh, tell you that…?"

"Al…" he repeated.

"What?" She crossed her arms, making eye contact again.

"You look terrible, you smell; your eyes are bloodshot…"

"I have had," she paused, "a _day_ …. And I was not prepared-"

"…for me?" he finished her sentence.

"Yeah." Her tail twitched as she searched for some words to say. "And not like, like not you yourself… but your, uh… p-persona?"

"My persona?"

"You know," she explained, "the whole big deal, ' _oh every thing's alright!_ ' thing! The MTT shtick."

"Ah, so it's a 'shtick'," Mettaton said, "being positive is a _shtick_."

"I mean, uh, it-" she stuttered "you act like everything is OK. But it's NOT OK."

"I was just trying to be funny," he sounded resigned, perhaps even sad. "I really was glad to see you."

Now she was disarmed.

"Fuck…"

"Stop that," Mettaton fussed.

"I can say fuck, Mettaton, you're not my mom," she retorted.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Hey," Alphys took on a more sober tone, "sorry I was a total… ass in there."

"I'll live," Mettaton assured her. "Besides, you'd just passed out. I shouldn't have tried to make light of the situation so soon. It was… insensitive."

Alphys looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head. Did Mettaton just say that? Well, that was… odd.

She bawled.

Mettaton panicked, eyes widening. He crouched down in front of her and cautiously reached out. Touching a monster that was a living embodiment of electrical energy when that monster was upset took some guts. Bracing himself, he grazed her shoulders.

And he was shocked, but not by a charge, but by the force as she lunged into a hug. Mettaton relaxed and turned off his smelling sensors so he could enjoy the moment… or minute, as she got that last bit of cry out.

"I-I'm just tired. Sorry," she managed to calm down a bit. The hug helped, she thought.

Alphys couldn't recall the last time she'd actually, really hugged someone…

Mettaton wiped around his painted eyes carefully, and then stood up again. "Let's get you home."

His head swiveled about.

"Where… is home, again?" he asked.

"Other end of town; about 4 kilometers," she explained, "m-maybe we need to call a cab? Or have you, uh, finally gotten your license?"

"Sadly, no," Mettaton admitted, "but a cab sounds better than walking, doesn't it?"

Alphys nodded, getting up too. She realized only then that she'd been sitting on some soggy cardboard. As if she couldn't get any more grotesque. Strangely, at this stage she didn't care, and that was actually alarming.

"Want me to…?" he offered, wordlessly, to pick her up.

"I'm emotional, not limbless," she realized how that sounded and added, "no thanks…?"

"Grouch." Mettaton chuckled.

She offered a crooked smile.

"So," a deep voice caught their attention, "are you two just magnetically attracted to trash or what?"

Sans sauntered up, stretching. He'd probably just woken up from his glorious nap on Grillby's bar.

"Well, you know what they say about trash!" Papyrus quipped, jogging up beside him.

Alphys' eyes diverted. She tapped her claws together.

"No, what do they say?" Mettaton asked dryly.

Papyrus beamed. "One man's trash is another skeleton's treasure!"

He turned that beaming smile to Alphys. "Glad to see you're doing better! We were worried SICK."

"Yep," Sans played along, "totally."

Mettaton narrowed his eyes at Sans, and the skeleton was completely unfazed.

"Thanks, Papyrus…" Alphys returned the smile, albeit she couldn't match his gusto.

"I really thought Mettaton had killed you!" Papyrus said.

"W-why?" Alphys asked.

Papyrus responded, as if it were obvious, "for the ratings, of course!"

Mettaton blinked in surprise, then threw his head back and guffawed. No one else was laughing. "Ahem."

"Anyway. You two need a ride?" Sans ignored the awkward pause. "We got space."

"Y-yeah, actually…" Alphys mentioned, "we're both a bit low on charge."

"Well, then that'd be just swell, gentlemen!" Mettaton added, oh-so-suavely.

"Ooh!" Papyrus lit up with excitement. "I've always wanted to be a gentleman!"

Papyrus practically bounced toward his car, and the rest followed at a normal pace.

Even in a dimly lit diner's parking lot, the glossy fire-engine red glimmered. The convertible top was up, unnaturally in such a mild summer night.

"Wow," Mettaton remarked as they came alongside it, "this is nice."

Papyrus was so proud. "Only the finest vehicle for the Road Warrior Papyrus."

He unlocked the car and then with a flourish, opened the a door for Alphys.

"Ta da!"

She looked inside and was overwhelmed by the clean car aroma and freshly vacuumed seats. Even the floorboards were perfection. Somehow, it looked even more beautiful than last time she'd seen it. It was somewhat a miracle he managed to keep it so nice, what with his brother actually riding in it too.

Alphys gave herself a disparaging once-over. So much for that pristine interior…

"Alright, pile in. I got shotgun," sans called out, and plopped into the passenger's seat.

Mettaton helped himself into the backseat and watched as Alphys painfully scooted in, attempting to touch as little surface area as feasible as she did so.

"Buckle up!" Papyrus chimed. "And keep your tails and shoulder pads inside the vehicle at all times."

Mettaton frowned and checked his shoulders, and Alphys went ahead and buckled him in along with herself.

"Oh." He noticed. "Thanks."

"No problem." She was more worried that she'd flake off gross crusty sand.

The car pulled out of the diner, rollicking a bit as it hit a few of the small town's obligatory pot holes. They drove on toward the northwestern edge, taking a winding road out of downtown and into the country.

Oh! She pulled out her phone, it's charge nearly as low as her own, and tapped out a message to Susie. She would probably still be up due to it being summer break and all.

 _Today at 11:39 PM_  
 _ **Hey**_  
 _ **sorry I was gone**_  
 _ **ill be home in 15m**_  
 _ **you ok?**_

And she sent it, shutting the screen off. She awaited a reply, anxiety gnawing at her. It didn't help that Susie was fantastic at reading but not answering messages.

The pines grew tall around them as the road twisted deeper yet.

It was rather peaceful, the oncoming dark of the woods. Alphys could feel the image of her presence fade.

They, the passengers, all became just murky shapes underneath such deep blue skies. The whites of the skeletons and Mettaton's face and gloves caught most of the light. She herself was lit dimly, almost like a worn-out grimy glow stick.

She leaned back into the leather. She was terribly itchy, but she could feel herself unwinding, especially now that she wasn't so easily seen.

Alphys noticed the way Mettaton scouted the sky with his gaze. The fascination was plain on his face.

"It's so… bright. The stars," Mettaton remarked.

"Yeah," Alphys said, "you can REALLY see the stars further out."

"But, I can see them so well now." He was confused.

"They can get brighter. Trust me," Alphys said.

"She's right," Sans backed her up. "Hey. Maybe we could go out star-gazin'? I got a telescope and all."

"' _A telescope_ ' he says," Alphys quoted him, dubious. And then said to Mettaton, "he has a bit more than that. More like an astronomer's dream kit."

"Eh," Sans downplayed it all, "I'm just an amateur."

Mettaton hummed, "well, I think it sounds like a tremendous idea."

"Cool," Sans said, "you two call me some night. I'll be around."

Alphys nodded. "Sure thing."

The rumble of the road went on for a moment, and then Papyrus asked, "can I go too?"

"Of course you can go," Sans said, as if it were the dumbest question.

"Wowie!" Papyrus was back to full volume, "I get to star gaze with… _a star!_ "

"Oh boy," Mettaton commented from the back seat.

Alphys couldn't help but snicker.

She felt her phone buzz and pulled it out with surprising dexterity. She saw a new message from Susie!

 _Today at 11:51 PM_  
 _ **im fine**_  
 _ **cya**_

She had a way with words, that girl. Alphys chuckled, and put the phone back in her pocket.

As the brothers bickered about this or that, she felt a wave of weariness overcome her. The peace of the night lulled her into a doze, and she slumped in her seat. She was less and less bothered by the grit that clung to her as she drifted closer and closer to that wonderful place called 'rest'.

And then a bright light shined into the car, disrupting her snooze. An annoyed honk from behind them startled her, and she dragged herself up in the seat.

Papyrus was a very conscientious driver and adhered painfully to the laws of the road. This included the speed limit, which he would not exceed no matter how many cars piled up behind him.

There was probably a mile of lights behind the car by now. They couldn't tell exactly how far it was due to the twisting country road.

Mettaton and Alphys were staring out the back at the pile-up, espying the faint image of an angry Oni-like monster clutching his wheel, shooting the bird at them.

The other vehicles couldn't even attempt to pass ninety percent of the time, what with the twists and the utter lack of a shoulder in this stretch of road.

Sensing the tension, Papyrus spun up the Veggie-Tales CD.

"Of course," Alphys said, utterly resigned.

Mettaton wondered aloud, "why don't you just tell him to-"

Sans turned around in his seat, and the look that he gave him left Mettaton speechless. Never had he seen a skeleton's eyes go lightless…

 _The Hair Brush_ song blasted into the summer night.

Mettaton sat tight in his seat, sparing a sidelong glance to Alphys, who merely shrugged.

"Not worth it," she whispered, "he doesn't speed when there are guests in his car."

Papyrus, meanwhile, tapped the wheel merrily, the audio drowning out many of the honks from behind.

"Anyone care to sing along?" he asked.

There was silence.

"Alrighty!"

Mettaton leaned over toward Alphys. "How much further?"

"It's supposed to be a seven minute drive," Alphys said.

Mettaton blinked as the headlights behind them flashed. "Uhm."

Alphys sighed. "I-I think we're over half way."

Mettaton slumped in the seat, but only a little. Alphys had already melted into her own.

The drive went ever on, and eventually, thankfully, they turned down the driveway to Alphys' house.

The bumpy and noisy gravel awakened the two from their comas.

"We're here," sans called out.

"Oh, thank heavens…" Mettaton spoke under his breath.

"Thanks, guys…" Alphys hesitated in thanking them, but…

"Beats walkin'," Sans read her mind.

"Yeah…" She smiled hideously.

 _I Love my Lips_ had just started playing and the two practically fell out of the car. They didn't know how much more of granny Papy they could take, as sweet as he was.

"Adios, amigos!" Sans saluted them, and Papyrus echoed the motion, but with four times the enthusiasm.

"Au revoir!" Papyrus waved.

Mettaton and Alphys gathered themselves, stepping on to the concrete pad at the base of the home's stairs. They watched as Papyrus' car performed an impossible U-turn and began to gain speed, hurtling out of the drive and drifting into the road with a squeal. Rubber burned as the car took off, blazing down the country road like a comet.

"What." Mettaton wasn't sure how to process what he'd just witnessed.

"I don't know." She was simply used to having more questions than answers when it came to the skeleton brothers.

Alphys padded along the concrete and clambered up the front steps and onto the porch. Mettaton clunked behind her, thankful for the floodlight that came on and illuminated the somewhat remote yard.

The light revealed dozens of tarped objects dotting the lawn. More were probably yet concealed in the shadows beyond. Mettaton assumed most of these were automotive related, but a few wires and pipes poking out of one of the tarps made him question such assumptions. They certainly weren't car-shaped, now that he looked…

He tried not to focus on that, as dwelling on her making other robotic forms got him a bit jealous. Instead he let his ears wander into the woods, keening to hear the wilder things he never heard in the city.

The wood answered with an orchestra. The deafening calls of katydids and crickets were festooned by the croons of other creatures of the woods.

"Huh. Outside's a bit more damp then I expected." Mettaton observed the two-story before him.

He earned an annoyed sidelong look from Alphys.

She unlocked the front door with a soft pattern of static magic, the lock responding to her signature.

The door creaked open into the dark. Susie hadn't turned any lights on for them. Typical.

"Here we are," Alphys said, shuffling inside the den/dining/everything room of the house.

Mettaton followed behind, crowding her in the dark. She eventually found the light switch and flipped it on.

"Oh _my_."

Alphys made a face. Yeah, she figured he'd hate it.

He seemed a bit overwhelmed as he calculated a path through the mess. He was quite large and delicacy wasn't his strong suit. The way the clutter was set up may as well have been an obstacle course.

Alphys shoved some things aside as she went to help him out.

"Very _cozy_ , isn't it, dear?" Mettaton chuckled, and then nearly tripped over some dusty computer cases.

Alphys ignored him as she slid some CDs into a shelf. "You have a place to stay? Bring the tour bus?"

"Bus? Oh, no I was chauffeured here." He teetered on a foot, carefully navigating a shoulder pad around a precarious stack of books. "I told them that there was simply no need to stick about. This town is small enough to walk, so exercise these beauties I shall!"

He kicked up a leg subconsciously, and a cheap anime figurine went flying. "Whoops."

"Of course," she said dryly, the figure shattering somewhere… else. She didn't even flinch.

Mettaton finally made it into the kitchen with her, and put on a tacky grin.

Alphys turned on the kitchen light and scouted the piles of junk for Susie. "Sooo… you're staying at-"

"The hotel!" he cut her off.

"We d-don't have a hotel…?" Alphys drew out her words, tipping her head.

Mettaton corrected himself. "Oh, right right. The _**inn**_. My apologies. I'm staying in the _inn_."

She nodded slowly.

"Look. I didn't want to be a burden, dear. I see you've a lot going on," he attempted to sound his pleasantest, "besides, if I stayed HERE I'd probably just… end up reorganizing and cleaning most of the day!"

Alphys stared at him, longsuffering.

"No offense!" He threw his gloves up. "I just can't… think like this. You know."

She continued to stare.

Mettaton mumbled, "sorry."

"Nah," Alphys didn't want to be too hard on him, and teased him instead, "I might take you up on that cleaning thing. You're good at it. And I'm all for free labor."

"Aw," he replied, "how nice."

She then switched subjects, "well, I'm going to get a shower."

Mettaton clasped his hands.

"M-make yourself at home?" she offered, gesturing to the abundance of her empire… junk food, worn furnishings, and technology scraps.

"I doubt you'd want that." Mettaton winked.

"Fine then. Deny yourself the _vast riches_ of my hovel," she said.

Mettaton laughed, "it's not a hovel. It's _cozy_."

"Shut up!" she said flippantly, and now they were both giggling.

Mettaton took pause, a shuffling in the debris catching in his periphery. He turned, and saw some… thing… arise from the refuse; a purple thing, to be exact.

It had thick, muscled arms, bedraggled hair, and a long snout with… many, _many_ bearedteeth. It was clad in a stained tank top and ragged shorts, and holding… oh no, _what was that…?_

"Is that-is that a wild animal?" He backpedaled. It was clutching what he assumed was an entire chicken skewered on metal spit.

"Oh. There you are, Susie!" Alphys was so happy to see her.

Susie responded to Alphys with a low-effort wave, and then turned her focus back to Mettaton.

"Ahhhh, so they…" Mettaton kept an eye on her. "This is your… 'apprentice/employee'… person… who also lives with you."

Susie's golden eyes glinted in the darkness.

"She looks…" Mettaton began. He stopped talking as a low growl emanated from her end of the room. "Hmmm."

"Yeah, you've only seen her yearly portraits, haven't you?" Alphys was completely distracted, throwing a few plastic wrappings away. "She looks different with a ponytail."

He was fairly certain there was more going on than a ponytail. Maybe… photoshop?

Susie said nothing. She stood there, silent, judging Mettaton's every move. She took a chunk out of the chicken with her mouth, making sure he saw her long, knife-like teeth as she chewed. He watched her eat an entire fourth of it in one bite… bone, gristle, and all.

Mettaton saw Alphys walking away toward the bathroom. He felt a rush of panic.

"You two have fun, I'll be out in a sec. Don't go anywhere Mettaton, we have some stuff to talk about," she said, giving Mettaton a saccharine smile before shutting the bathroom door.

Mettaton scowled.

Well, he wasn't about to let some child get him off his game. He pulled out a screw driver from his chest compartment resolutely. He propped his foot up on a bucket that was up against the wall, tightening a few screws to the pink vanity plates on his shins.

He eyed the shadows. Had she moved? No. He wasn't sure if that was more or less concerning.

She wasn't moving at all. Just standing there. With three fourths of a chicken on a stick. Menacingly.

Mettaton pursed his lips. Surely that… girl wouldn't try anything within her own home? She had to have heard of him, Mettaton, by now. Alphys… did talk about him… right? They had an open friendship now. It wasn't exactly news that he wasn't _created_ by Alphys. Otherwise, them being close friends would have been… odd.

He looked back and she was gone.

Mettaton's eyes darted all over, and he backed up to the counters.

Then she was _there_ , in the kitchen with him. He held up the screwdriver defensively.

"You," she growled, gesturing at him with the half-eaten chicken, "you're Mettaton, right?"

Well, she did know his name, at least. "Yes, my darling!"

He watched her consume another fourth of the fowl in an enormous chomp.

"It is I, in the metal." His voice was loud to overcome the bone-crunching.

"Better watch yourself," she warned. "I don't even care if you've been in a movie or tv show or… whatever…"

She narrowed her eyes at him, and took three consecutive, intimidating steps closer. Mettaton wasn't afraid, no, but he could feel the rush of a FIGHT coming on.

"Darling, please, personal space!" he warned her, his composure cramped as he could feel her breaths. He stood his ground, however.

"I just wanted to tell you secret," Susie said. The smirk rising on her lips did not bode well, and she dared to lay one of her paws on him. She didn't move it despite the unnatural cold that chilled her whole body as she touched him.

"Loud people _piss me off._ "

Mettaton smiled broadly in her face. "Well, sucks to be you."

Susie's smirk twisted into a scowl. "What."

Alphys got back, looking refreshed and cheerful. She fiddled with her pajama pant strings, stuffing them in a pocket haphazardly so she wouldn't trip on them.

"Hey! So, what are we talking abou-" She looked at their stances and detected the beginnings of a stand off. Of course…

"We were talking and not threatening?" She glared at Susie. "Right?"

Susie let go of Mettaton and slunk away, shrinking from Alphys' scalding gaze.

The tiny lizard put her hands on her hips.

In an attempt to make amends, Susie offered some of her chicken on a stick to Mettaton.

"Want some?" she offered awkwardly.

"Um. No thank you…" Mangled chunks dangled off the carcass. It looked like roadkill.

Alphys rolled her eyes and went to scrounging.

"Arright…" Susie shrugged. She went to the cupboard and wrapped the thing in a few winds of cellophane before depositing it in the fridge besides the ham chunk.

"I'm going to bed," she announced.

"Alright," Alphys responded, distracted.

In a pointed matter, Susie walked over to Alphys and picked her up, hugging her tight. Susie glared at Mettaton for the entire duration of the embrace, even as she set Alphys down.

Mettaton shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Aw, you never hug me…" Alphys sounded so endeared, "good night!"

"Night," Susie was dry, and went to leave.

As soon as Alphys turned around to grab a snack, Susie glared pointedly at Mettaton, never breaking eye contact as she receded into the shadows.

Mettaton closed his eyes and sensed her volatile magic shifting upwards, what he assumed were stairs… or maybe that was an escalator. It would explain the noise if it was an escalator.

"Man, you better hold onto that memory file," Alphys said excitedly. "She, like, never hugs me. Especially in front of people!"

Thankfully she really was gone, and wouldn't pounce on him if he dared leave the kitchen, or did… anything… threatening? He had an idea what she was saying to him, but… ugh, what a primitive thing to do!

"Are you listening? I can tell you're doing that ghost thing…"

And besides, Susie wouldn't have to do anything if _Undyne_ heard. There was no stopping that knight's wrath.

He snapped back to his visual feed, and reacquainted himself with the dingy kitchen. "Hmmm?"

"Never mind." She sniffed some cereal, discerning its age.

Mettaton looked for a chair that was sturdy enough to support him. "You know, that girl of yours…"

"Yeah?" Alphys asked as she began to munch on her bowl of colorful cereal.

"Should I be worried?"

"No. She's just…" Alphys sighed, explaining, "that's a very warm welcome. Her kind is… well, pretty territorial and aggressive, honestly."

"You always end up with the aggressive kinds," Mettaton said suggestively as he situated himself in the scuffed chair.

Alphys choked on her cereal a little, turning her back so Mettaton couldn't see. Not like he was paying that close attention, but still…

"Speaking of aggression!" he segued smoothly, crossing his legs dramatically out of habit, "where's Undyne? I would have figured she'd have been on us as soon as she could hear the car coming."

Mettaton turned his focus back to Alphys, and all he could see was her stilled back.

"She's… out of town, I assume?" he asked.

Alphys avoided eye contact. She put the cereal on the counter and pushed it away. That was… odd. Mettaton knew she could eat twice that much.

"S-she went to visit her, uh, family," Alphys explained.

"Oh."

"In the o-ocean," she added, abruptly.

Mettaton could feel the shift, and chewed on his lip. "And you two….?" He gestured.

"Stayed behind," Alphys' stated, "I don't… _like_ the ocean."

Mettaton didn't _like_ how that sounded.

"It's dark. Freezing. Crushing pressure," she rattled it off, "same for Susie."

"That far down?" Mettaton turned his head, brow creasing.

Alphys nodded, staring at something else… off to the side, intensely. There wasn't really anything there.

He didn't think Undyne was of the abyssal variety of… angry fish people. He hoped he was wrong.

"Ah… well, then," Mettaton tried to abort the topic, "Goodness! You must be so very tired! You know how I am. Robot of a spectral nature. No concept of circadian rhythm, and all that jazz."

Alphys was focusing hard on things, anything but whatever Mettaton was questioning. She noticed there was a lot of buildup on his legs, particularly gritty streaks on his boots. It looked like he'd worn his knee joints out, as one of the vanity plates obscuring the pivot-point was loose and wiggled as he shifted. He must've done a lot of walking recently…?

She wondered.

"Al…?"

She snapped to, making eye contact again.

"Oh, y-y-yeah?!" Alphys' wrung her hands.

Mettaton let out a synthesized breath of exasperation. "You need to go rest. Seriously. I am horrible for keeping you and myself up late."

"Oh…" Alphys was still unsure. Her perception of her actions were quite muddled, actually, so that was right. She really did need to just… not think.

"That's a good idea," she sounded haggard, "I… need to recharge. Literally."

"As do I." Mettaton stood up.

Alphys wondered aloud, "wait, how are you going to…? Oh, geez. D-do you need me to take you back into town?"

Some logistical planning this was.

"I-I guess you could crash here…?" she offered. "The couch could be, um, cleared off."

Mettaton tried to not wrinkle his nose at that thought. "Oh, don't worry. I can just jet over to the inn!"

"A-are you sure?" she hesitated.

"I'll be FINE. You go on and catch some Z's, and I'll go get my beauty charge! We'll talk in the morning, I promise!"

Mettaton had somehow adeptly sauntered out of the kitchen, his every step a pose, before Alphys could say anything.

"Uh, OK!"

She followed him and watched as he slipped through the mess in the living area to the entrance.

"Text me when you get there," she called.

He replied, snaking his arms out the door already, "will do, dear. Have a good sleep."

Mettaton gave her a cute little tongue-out grin before slipping out the door. He closed it gingerly and she could hear him clanking down the steps.

She hopped onto a pile of cardboard boxes and peeled back the blinds on the window. Mettaton's transformation sequence went off without a hitch, smoke and sparkles from his overflowing magical aura obscuring the particulars of the process. Still, she could see the way the plates defused and folded neatly on guided, yet imperceptible tracks of magic, and the outer shell of the rectangle formed and fused into a whole. It was really a beautiful harmony of technology and parabiology.

She was a bit proud.

The newly formed rectangle shivered, shaking into his new form. Then, Mettaton retracted his arms and his wheel stock to engage flight mode.

His frame began to vibrate as the rocket warmed and rumbled. Slow but sure, he rose into the air on a bright flame, leaving a nice scorch spot on the lawn. The tarps rippled in the blast as he took off, some even lifting slightly to reveal glinting glimpses of things robotic.

She watched him careen into the sky, training her gaze as sharply as she could in case he malfunctioned. He was impressively stealthy for a hurtling silver box on fire, but even so she could make out the ember glow of his thruster farther than she thought.

He corrected his flight path a little more than usual, but she chalked that up to probably not knowing where the inn was located.

Hopefully…

Nope. She couldn't afford to worry. She'd just check her texts later to see how he faired. She needed to rest. Badly.

Alphys turned out almost all the lights, and meandered back through the mess, sighing as she knocked over a stack of magazines she knew she wouldn't get to cleaning up.

The escalator reacted to her magic and began to run, carrying her up the stairs. She knew it was horrible to be _that_ lazy, but on nights like these boy did she love how lazy past Alphys was.

Her room was mostly obscured in dark, but she knew its layout by heart and found her way to her little lamp to turn it on, like a sort of night light. It was something Susie had made with her friends, and was composed of crudely cut wood, old springs and bolts, and some poorly selected paints. The lamp was supposed to be a cute cat girl, but the head had been replaced by a light bulb, and her 'hair and ears' were the shade. It also didn't look anything like a cute cat girl and more like a wendigo… (No offense to the wendigo.)

Though absolutely atrocious, there was a lot of effort put into it. Best Christmas gift ever.

Alphys set a couple alarms and took her glasses off, setting them in one of the designated safe-zones on the bedside table. She prodded her amazing folding-cube bed with a foot and the contraption jumped to life, and in some miraculous and not-so-easily described process, the cube became the afore mentioned bed with all the trappings.

She flopped down into it, wriggling under the covers and onto her hoard of pillows, and laid there…

Alone.

She'd thankfully gotten rid of the old bed, so the familiar feel of its sheets and the lingering scents couldn't get her. But that… old emotion. Sometimes in the throes of sleep it was as if nothing had ever happened. It was like it had been.

She enjoyed sleep, but waking up, shattering the illusion, it wasn't worth it. She'd just want to go back to sleep, over and over. And it just got harder to get out of bed. And she feared one day, she… wouldn't be able to-

Damn it.

She really needed to just… stop.

Stop thinking.

But that familiar feeling was creeping into the covers with her.

Stop.

Outside, the woods sang its song, just like old times.

Please.

The empty side of the room loomed, shadows thickening.

Not again.

Alphys thrashed over, grunting in frustration. It was useless. So, she pulled out her phone and pulled up an archive of fanfiction, navigating by rote to one of her favorite shows.

She was upset with herself, somewhere in the back of her head, that she was so weak as to need… something so trivial to keep her sane. But…

Who really believed the trash talker in the back of one's brain?

She scrolled through the summaries, snickering at a few of them and their clumsy pretension, and eventually found something that piqued her interest enough to read.

She avoided most of that shippy, romantic sap, and went for the pure characterization. Perhaps a bit of comedy, though that usually veered to pure insanity rather than something actually _funny_. Still, it was better than… well…

As her mind ventured into the world of these imaginary heroes and villains, she could feel her life begin to melt away, the burden lifting and letting her breathe. As she read and imagined, her breaths began to slow, and she was pulled into sleep… free from _herself_.


End file.
